This vegan ricotta and spinach stuffed rotolo is my new favorite way of eating pasta. I totally fell in love with how easy this actually is to make. And not to mention how absolutely gorgeous it is, it will certainly make for an amazing centerpiece for a dinner party. I hope you will love it as much as I do.

Recipe

Serves 4 to 6 people

Ingredients

For the pasta dough:

200 gr of semola rimacinata flour
100 ml of warm water

For the vegan spinach and ricotta filling:

500 gr of firm tofu
500 gr of fresh spinach
100 gr of vegan parmesan, grated, my fav brand here
olive oil, as much as needed
2 large garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste

For the tomato sauce:

olive oil
1 white onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
a handful of fresh basil leaves
700 ml of tomato passata
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of sugar

Instructions

Pasta dough

Start by pouring your flour in a bowl or on a clean workspace.
Make a well in the middle of the flour and slowly pour in the warm water.
With a fork start by incorporating the water in the flour, adding flour slowly from the outside of the well to the middle.
Once it start to come together use your hands.
Transfer the dough on a clean surface dusted with more flour and kneed until a uniform dough forms.
Cover with plastic foil and leave to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Once the dough has rested, flour your workspace again and roll out the dough in an oval or rectangular shape that’s approx. 5 mm thick.

Vegan spinach and ricotta filling

Crumble up the tofu with your hands and place in a blender with a splash of water.
Start pulsing until the tofu resembles a smooth ricotta. You may need to scrape down the sides while blending.
Transfer the tofu ricotta in a bowl.
Meanwhile add a drizzle of olive oil to a pan over medium heat.
Add the washed spinach.
Leave to wilt for 10 minutes, stir every now and then to avoid burning.
Once the spinach has wilted and some water has come out, add the minced garlic.
Leave to simmer for another minute or so and take the pan of the heat.
Once the spinach has cooled down a little squeeze out some of the excess liquid with a fork or spoon to the side of the pan.
Chop the spinach finely and add it to the tofu ricotta along with the grated vegan parmesan.
Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. If the concistency is too thick you can add a little spinach cooking water.
Spread the filling evenly over the pasta sheet, and then roll up by the short edges.
Wrap the rotolo tightly in a tea towel or muslin cloth, tying with kitchen twine.
Poach for 20 minutes in salted boiling water.
Remove and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

For the tomato sauce

Heat up a good amount of olive oil in a pot. (the bottom of the pot should be covered)
Add the onion, garlic and basil.
Fry for a few minutes on medium heat until fragrant.
Add the passata and leave to simmer for 20 minutes. Stirring every now and then to avoid burning. You might need to add a splash of water if the sauce gets too thick.
After the 20 minutes, season with salt, pepper and sugar.

Serving

remove the rotolo from the cloth and chop in roughly 2 cm thick slices.
Serve the rotolo slices on a bed of tomato sauce and grate some extra vegan parmesan on top.
Buon appetito!